Here’s a look at who’s televising and calling (where available) this week’s college football games, with some discussion of a featured game or games in each slot based on announcers, matchup, or both. All times are Eastern.
Friday, Dec. 6 (all listings from 506 Sports)
Conference USA Championship
Western Kentucky @ Jacksonville State
7:00 p.m.
CBSSN
Rich Waltz, Robert Turbin
Featured game 1: American Athletic Conference Championship
Tulane @ No. 24 Army
8:00 p.m.
ABC
Dave Pasch, Dusty Dvoracek
While the Mountain West champion looks more likely to get the one guaranteed Group of Five playoff slot, with both UNLV and Boise State ranked ahead of these teams, this AAC clash still looks like a great matchup. The 10-1 Black Knights are 8-0 in conference play, and they’re at home, but the Green Wave (9-3, 7-1) are still five-point favorites. And while they’re coming in off a 34-24 loss to Memphis on Thanksgiving night, that was their only loss to a G5 opponent this year.
For Tulane, RB Makhi Hughes is a key player to watch. His 1,306 rushing yards are 12th in FBS, and he’s averaging 5.4 yards per carry and has 15 touchdowns. But Army has an even more impressive rusher in QB Bryson Daily, who’s ninth with 1,354 rushing yards (5.7 yards per carry) and has 25 touchdowns. Daily has also thrown for 860 yards and eight touchdowns with one interception and a 56.6 percent completion percentage. Oh, and this game does have an announcing team that placed seventh (of 25) in our latest reader-voted announcer rankings.
Featured game 2: Mountain West Championship: No. 20 UNLV @ No. 10 Boise State
8:00 p.m.
Fox
Jason Benetti, Brock Huard
As mentioned, this is the one with big playoff implications. The Broncos (11-1, 7-0) might even get a first-round bye if they win, as they’re currently ranked higher than the teams in the Big 12 championship (and the top four conference champions get a bye). But while the Rebels (10-2, 6-1) are four-point road underdogs, they can’t be written off here, and they’re in good position to get the G5 playoff spot if they pull off the upset.
The crucial player to watch here is Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty, who leads FBS with 2,288 rushing yards (UNC’s Omarion Hampton is second with 1,660 yards) and 28 touchdowns (Daily is second with 25). He’s averaging 7.3 yards per carry, and could potentially beat Barry Sanders’ 1988 record of 2,628 rushing yards with a good performance here and in the playoff or a bowl. And he has the second-shortest odds for the Heisman, behind only Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter.
But UNLV has their own star in QB Haji-Malik Williams, who famously took over the starting role midseason after Matthew Sluka left the team over a NIL dispute. Williams has thrown for 1,735 yards, 17 touchdowns, and four interceptions this year with a 64.1 percent completion rate, so he’s one to watch. And this matchup is called by our readers’ fifth-ranked announcing team.
Saturday, Dec. 7, early window
Featured game 1: Big 12 Championship
No. 15 Arizona State vs. No. 16 Iowa State (AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX)
12:00 p.m.
ABC
Joe Tessitore, Jesse Palmer
Both of these teams will be under pressure not just to win, but to win decisively, especially if they want to back up conference commissioner Brett Yormark’s public lobbying for a higher rank than the G5 team. And this should be an interesting game, with two impressive teams: both of these schools are 10-2 (7-2 in conference). Arizona State (favored by two) has won five in a row, while Iowa State has won their last three.
For the Cyclones, keep an eye on QB Rocco Becht. He’s thrown for 3,021 yards and 20 touchdowns this year with eight interceptions but has only completed 59.2 percent of his passes. For Arizona State, WR Jordyn Tyson is a key figure, recording 1,101 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns on 75 receptions. And this announcing team finished eighth in those rankings.
MAC Championship
Ohio vs. Miami (OH) (Ford Field, Detroit, MI)
12:00 p.m.
ESPN
Anish Shroff, Andre Ware
Featured game 2: SWAC Championship
Southern @ Jackson State
2:00 p.m.
ESPN2
Tiffany Greene, Jay Walker
Jackson State is back to great form. They took a bit of a step back in 2023 following Deion Sanders’ departure for Colorado (and his taking many Tigers players with him), going 7-4 overall and 5-3 in conference. But T.C. Taylor’s second season as head coach has seen notable improvement, with Jackson State going 10-2 and 8-0 in the SWAC, and with him earning the conference’s coach of the year award. Meanwhile, the Jaguars (their BoomBox Classic rival) went 8-4 overall, but 7-1 in conference.
For the Tigers (13.5-point favorites), keep an eye on DL Joshua Nobles, who has a team-high eight sacks: no one else has more than 3.5. The Jaguars have their own notable sack artist in DE Ckelby Givens (co-defensive SWAC player of the year), who has six sacks on the year. So this could be a good pass-rushing matchup.
Saturday, Dec. 7, afternoon window
Featured/only game: SEC Championship
No. 2 Texas vs. No. 5 Georgia (Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA)
4:00 p.m.
ABC
Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit
This is one of two top-five matchups on the day, and it’s a good one. Texas is 11-1 overall (7-1 in the SEC), while Georgia is 10-2 (6-2). And the Longhorns (2.5 point favorites) and Bulldogs have won their last five and last three respectively, with Georgia’s last win being a crazy 8OT win over Georgia Tech (which some viewers missed for a rocket launch).
Georgia QB Carson Beck has been the center of a lot of debate this season, but his overall stats are impressive. He’s thrown for 3,429 yards and 28 touchdowns with 12 interceptions and a 65.1 percent completion mark. And he’s thrown for 297 yards in both of his last two games, and four and five touchdowns there respectively with no interceptions. For Texas, watch for RB Quintrevion Wisner, who has 812 rushing yards and three touchdowns this year and is averaging 5.2 yards per carry. And this matchup has our readers’ top-ranked announcing team.
Saturday, Dec. 7, evening window
Sun Belt Championship
Marshall @ Louisiana
7:30 p.m.
ESPN
Roy Philpott, Sam Acho
Featured game 1: ACC Championship
No. 17 Clemson vs No. 8 SMU (Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC)
8:00 p.m.
ABC
Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy
There are definitely notable playoff stakes in this one. SMU is 11-1 and 8-0 in the ACC, but the Mustangs’ schedule has been a matter of plenty of debate lately, including from athletic directors. And a win here would be their only ranked win. (They lost 18-15 at home to BYU in Week 2; the Cougars weren’t ranked then, but are No. 18 in the CFP rankings now.) But the CFP committee believes in them enough to rank them in the top 10 before this, so a win should give them a top-four conference champion slot and a bye. If Clemson (9-3, 7-1 in the ACC, 2.5-point underdogs) can pull off the upset, though, that could be an interesting debate between them, the Big 12 champion, and the Mountain West champion.
In this one, keep an eye on SMU RB Brashard Smith, who has 1,157 yards and 14 touchdowns on 193 carries (6.0 yards per carry). For the Tigers, a key figure is QB Cade Klubnik, who has 3,041 passing yards and 29 touchdowns against five interceptions this year (with a 64.2 percent completion mark), but wasn’t great (280 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and a 66.7 percent completion mark) in a loss to South Carolina last week. And this game has our readers’ second-ranked team.
Featured game 2: Big Ten Championship
No. 3 Penn State vs No. 1 Oregon (Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN)
8:00 p.m.
CBS
Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson
This is the highest-ranked matchup of the day. If Oregon (12-0, 9-0 in conference, a 3.5 point favorite) can hold serve, they’re likely holding on to the top CFP seed. But if Penn State pulls off the upset, that could make things pretty interesting seeding-wise.
For the Ducks, watch the pass-rushing team of Matayo Uiagalelei and Jordan Burch, who have 10.5 and 8.5 sacks respectively this season. That could pose issues for Nittany Lions’ QB Drew Allar, who has thrown for 2,668 yards and 18 touchdowns this year with five interceptions and a 71.6 percent completion mark.
